


Skin Deep

by musical_stan_first_human_later



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Beauty Queens AU, F/F, Sexual Assault, cathy parr pov, court trials, kat-centric, men being assholes, trigger warnings before every chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:02:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23550496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musical_stan_first_human_later/pseuds/musical_stan_first_human_later
Summary: Cathy Parr and her girlfriend Anne Boleyn just want to support Anne's cousin Katherine with her latest beauty pageant. That is until things go horribly wrong and six girls are left reeling from the aftermath.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn & Katherine Howard, Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr, Anne of Cleves & Katherine Howard, Katherine Howard & Catherine Parr
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	1. Round One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault, attempted rape

It was Anne Boleyn’s every intention to skew the results of her cousin’s beauty competition so the girl undeniably won. She knew Kitty had done everything right and any sensible person would declare her the winner, but Anne had to make absolutely sure the girl won. Now Anne didn’t have any personal stake in the competition, but she knew how much Kit loved the pageants. That’s why Anne found herself sneaking around backstage of the competition while tallies were being counted. Following Anne was her girlfriend, Cathy Parr, a bookish girl who served as the sensible side Anne did not have. “Are you seriously about to mess with official results?” Cathy whispered sharply, swiveling her head back and forth to make sure no one was watching.

Anne grabbed Cathy’s hand and pulled her forward, tip toeing even though no one was around. “Yes, this competition’s not gonna rig itself!”

Cathy groaned but allowed Anne to pull her along. In truth, Cathy did want Kit to win, but she would rather the girl lose fair and square than tamper with the results so she would win. Kit had even said so herself that she didn’t mind losing as long as it was a fair competition. Anne, however, was inherently competitive and would settle for nothing less than first place. “You do realize the judges will probably know if you’ve tampered with tallies.”

“Psh, how? The results are just a bunch of papers in a box, all i have to do is dump in a bunch with Kit’s name and bam! She’s won,” Anne explained her plan. “Although,” she started to think about it, “I don’t know why they call them judges when all they do is count votes. It’s kind of misleading.”

Rolling her eyes, Cathy replied, “Do you even pay attention to these things Anne? This is the third round, they judged the first two and the final one is audience choice.”

“Oh,” Anne shrugged. “I was too busy figuring out how to write Kit’s name in a different style so no one could tell they were all me.”

“Anne, do you really think the judges pay that much attention to handwriting? It’s a name.”

“I need this to go perfectly, Cathy. Kit has to win,” Anne explained, clutching the bag filled to the brim with Kitty’s name.

Putting a hand on Anne’s arm, Cathy drew her girlfriend’s attention away from the bag. “Why? Kitty’s already said she doesn’t care if she wins, so why are you messing with this?”

Taking a moment to pause, Anne looked down. “Because I know her father. Edmund’ll kill her if she doesn’t win.” Cathy was off put but Anne’s genuineness, but quickly Anne pretended as if it had never happened. “Besides, first prize is like, 1,500 pounds, and she always shares some with her favorite cousin! I’m gonna get new heelys.”

“Okay, you gigantic dork,” Cathy relented, chuckling at her girlfriend. “Now are we gonna rig the competition or what?”

“I knew you’d come around!” Anne cheered.

Pushing Anne forward, Cathy agreed, “Yeah, we all knew that. You could get me to do anything if you tried hard enough, Anne.”

“Babe,” Anne cooed. She gave Cathy a quick peck on the lips and turned around to continue her low budget rendition of James Bond. Blushing a bright red, Cathy tried to ignore the fluttering in her chest. Even though the two of them had been dating for six months strong, Anne never failed to make Cathy feel like she was kissing her for the first time.

All the hallway doors were labelled with what they were for. Most of them were dressing rooms for the contestants and the four judges of the competition. Two of the judges were student judges, teenagers Catherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour who had been nominated for the position after winning some prestigious award at their high school. Cathy and Aragon knew each other pretty well, but since starting to date Anne, Aragon had taken a step back out of Cathy’s life. The other judge, Jane Seymour, was student council president, but very much a workaholic who didn’t associate much with others. The final two judges were official judges from the hosts of the pageant, two men named Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpeper. 

“Found it!” Anne called and started pulling Cathy towards a door with a sign proclaiming _Judging Room_. Trying the handle, Anne grunted in frustration to find that it was locked. “Cathy, you know how to pick a lock, right?”

“You assume I would know how to do that even when lock picking is most often associated with illegal activities?” Cathy scoffed.

Leaning back on one leg, Anne raised an eyebrow. “But do you?”

“Yeah, let me get my hair pin out,” Cathy admitted. She kneeled down in front of the door and stuck her hair pin into the lock, twisting it around. As she was working, sounds started to come from inside the room. Cathy froze and put her ear against the door. “Anne, do you hear that?”

Anne frowned and looked down at her girlfriend. “No?”

The two of them pressed their ears against the door and listened closely, attempting to make out something from the other side of the door. There was a loud grunting sound, followed by a cry of pain causing the two girls to recoil. “Stop!” came the muffled voice of someone in the room. Suddenly feeling panicked, Cathy started to pick the lock as quickly as she could. Neither her nor Anne knew what was going on, but it didn’t sound good, especially from where they were standing.

After a few painful moments, Cathy unlocked the door and lurched forward, tumbling inside the room, Anne right on her heels. What they saw inside was far from what they ever imagined seeing, and would be forever ingrained in their memories. Thomas Culpeper stood on the other side of the room, his pants discarded (his underpants thankfully still on) as he held a trembling Kitty Howard in his hands. 

Kit herself wasn’t in great shape. Her makeup was running from the thick tears that were spilling out of her eyes. Her shirt had been ripped open and her skirt was crumpled, her whole body trembling. Culpeper had his hands on the sides of Kit’s body, holding her in place against the wall.

When the door opened, it let out a loud whooshing sound that surprised both Culpeper and Kit. When Culpeper realized he had been caught in a compromising situation, he backed off of Kit, a look of fear in his eyes. “It’s not what it looks like,” he said, moving over to his pants and quickly pulling them up. “She wanted it, I didn’t have any choice. I did nothing wrong,” he rambled, trying to get his belt on.

“Get the hell out of here before I beat you to death with my own _fucking_ fists,” Anne hissed at him with more fury than anything Cathy had ever seen. 

Culpeper pushed past Anne and Cathy, bolting out of the room and disappearing. Cathy scrambled up from the floor and made her way over to Kit, Anne one step ahead of her. “Kitty?” Anne almost tripped over her words, “Oh my God, are you okay Kitty?”

The girl in question couldn’t get so much as a squeak out. She just slid down to the floor and curled up in a ball. Kit put her head against her knees in order to hide her face, small, quick breaths the only sound coming from her. “He’s not going to hurt you again, Kitty, I promise,” Anne did her best to soothe her cousin, praying that she was doing anything right.

Sitting down next to Kit, Cathy made sure to avoid physical contact. “Kit, if you can hear me, can you say something?”

There was an agonizing moment of silence, and then Kit said in a very small, staggered voice, “I - I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for Kitty, this isn’t your fault. We’re going to get you some help, okay?” Anne explained to her cousin.

Without lifting her head, Kit began to mumble something. “What was that Kit?” Cathy asked lightly, trying to make her voice as warm as possible.

“Anna.”

Nodding in understanding, Cathy stood up. “Don’t worry Kit, I’ll go get her. Anne will stay with you.”

Sliding closer to her cousin but being sure not to touch her, Anne voiced her agreement. “You don’t have to talk, but I’m here Kit, I’m here with you.”

With one final look, Cathy turned around and bolted out of the judging room, moving as fast as she could throughout the maze of halls. Multiple times Cathy almost slipped or crashed into people with how fast she was moving, but the bookworm was on a mission. Anna was supposed to be somewhere backstage, she always stayed with Kit during these competitions because of how close they were. Anne and Cathy had a running bet on how long it would take until one of them confessed their feelings for the other, but Cathy didn’t think that was going to be a very important bet anymore.

Finding Kit’s dressing room, Cathy threw open the door and pointed at a very shocked and confused Anna. “Cathy what’re you doing back here? Have you seen Kit she -”

Heaving in a breath, Cathy cut Anna off. “You need to come with me right now.”

“What why?”

“It’s Kit. Something happened and she really needs you.”

Anna stood up, grim determination on her face. “Say no more. Lead the way.” Running back out the door, Cathy led Anna through the halls, relying on pure adrenaline to get her through the halls. In hindsight, she probably looked like she was dealing with something like a fire, running around like a madman, but Cathy wasn’t going to waste a second getting Kit the help she needed.

They had almost reached the judges room when they were stopped by the two student judges. “Cathy?” Aragon asked as she saw the girl huffing in the middle of the hall. “You’re not supposed to be back here, you need to leave.”

“That’s not important right now, you need to let us by,” Anna answered for her, trying to push past Aragon. Aragon stood firm, her eyebrows crinkling. She always was a stickler for the rules, and unless she had good reason to let the girls by, she wouldn’t.

Jane was a little more timid than Aragon, but she noticed the look of desperation on both girl’s faces. “Is something wrong? We can try to help you if you need assistance with something,” Jane offered kindly.

Cathy was sweaty and stressed out and the anxiety was starting to get to her. “Look, if you want to help,” she blurted out, “you’ll get out of the way so Anna can go help Kit.”

“Who?” Jane asked.

“Katherine Howard, one of your contestants who, by the way, was just sexually assaulted by one of the other judges. So if you two are done, we’d like to go help her,” Cathy rambled impatiently.

The two girls stood in shock, horrified at what Cathy was telling them. Anna was shocked at first, also not knowing what had happened, but she set her lips in a determined line. Taking their silence as permission, Anna pushed past them and ran ahead past the last couple of doors, entering the judges room. Cathy stood with the two student judges for another moment, her breathing still evening out. The bookworm had never been particularly fit, preferring to stay inside most days, so even running around backstage was enough to tire her out. Aragon shifted her feet awkwardly. “One of the judges assaulted Howard?”

“Thomas Culpeper,” Cathy was unafraid to name him. “The only reason we were there was because Kitty is my girlfriend’s cousin. It could’ve been a lot worse if Anne hadn’t found her.”

“We should call the police,” Jane piped up, her eyes clearly horrified at the thought of anyone being hurt by a man she was associated with. “We can’t let him get away with this.”

Cathy’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I don’t plan to,” she growled. Anne was probably already plotting the bastard’s death, but Cathy knew there were far worse punishments for what he’d done. If she put enough time and effort into it, Cathy knew she could get him sentenced to prison for a long time.

Aragon took a step forward but didn’t move any closer. “Look, you go help Howard, and Jane and I’ll get the police.”

“We’ll be right here if you need us,” Jane assured her. The student president felt her resolve hardening as she internally vowed to get justice for what had happened under her watch.

Giving one last look to the two judges, Cathy moved past them and jogged to the judging room. Her heart warmed when she saw the three girls inside. Kit was curled up in Anna’s arms, each of them holding the other tightly. Anne was at her cousin’s side, squeezing her hand close to her chest, making sure the girl knew she was there.

Silently moving next to Anne, Cathy kneeled down on the floor and hugged her from behind. She felt her girlfriend melt into her embrace, accepting the comfort she desperately needed. “Hey, things are going to be okay,” Cathy promised.

“Yeah,” Anne muttered, “One day it will be. But both of us know this isn’t going to end anytime soon.”


	2. Round Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Talk about attempted rape and sexual assault, victim blaming

It didn’t take long for the cops to arrive after Jane and Aragon called them. The girls were still huddled together in the judging room when loud footsteps echoed through the hall. Cathy looked up from her spot next to Anne and glanced at Jane and Catherine by the doorway. Aragon had her head out in the hall and was waving down someone - presumably the police - while Jane kept her eyes fixed on Kit. There was pain hiding behind her eyes, but she made no move to show it.

When the cops walked in the room, Cathy carefully peeled Anne away from Kit so that there wouldn’t be too many people crowding her cousin. Anne made a sound of protest but she let Cathy pull her away. Not even a machine powered buzzsaw could separate Anna and Kit though, so no one tried. There was a horde of cops at the door, but only two of them actually entered the room. “You girls okay?” one of the cops asked Jane and Catherine. The student judges both nodded and waved off the concern.

Both the cops were female, thank God, one dressed in the typical uniform while the other wore a suit, signifying she was a detective. The detective kneeled down next to Kit and gave her a kind smile. “Hey kid, how are you doing?”

Kit peeked out from Anna’s hold and immediately her eyes darted everywhere but the detective’s. “M’fine,” Kit mumbled, hiding the tears that were gathering in her eyes. 

The other cop was still standing back, but she was very clearly taking mental notes on the exchange. When she caught Cathy staring at her, the cop tipped her hat in acknowledgement. Slowly, Cathy nodded back at the cop. “Well we’re gonna take you somewhere safer than here, if that’s okay with you.”

There was silence as Kit thought about it. “Can Anna come? And Annie and Cathy?” she asked, looking over at her cousin. 

“Of course,” the detective assured the volatile teen. The detective stood up and scanned all the girls. She tried to appear warm and inviting, but the same cold, analytical gaze all detectives had was what she was wearing instead. “I’m Detective Bessie Blount, but you can call me Bessie. This is Officer Maggie Lee -”

Maggie jumped in, a much more natural grin on her face, “I’m her partner.”

“Technically you’re still an officer.”

“I should be a detective.”

“You _would_ be a detective if you quit violating task force etiquette,” the two of them lightly bickered.

The ridiculousness of it made Kitty let out a small giggle, so none of the girls complained at the strangeness of the interaction. “Whatever, you’re still stuck with me,” Maggie stuck her tongue out at Bessie childishly. 

Rolling her eyes, Bessie returned her attention to the girls on the floor. “Two of you can ride with me and Maggie will drive the other two to the station.”

Sighing, Anne answered, “Kit and Anna aren’t separating anytime soon, Cathy and I will ride together.”

Maggie nodded. “Alright, you two can come with me. Bessie, you got them?”

“Yeah, you go on ahead.” Maggie held her hand out and helped Anne stand up. The three of them exited the room together, Cathy giving a small wave to Jane and Catherine who were speaking with the other police officers right outside the room.

Leading them out of the building, Maggie was surprisingly carefree for a police officer. Some of the contestants peaked out of their dressing rooms to watch Cathy and Anne, confused as to why police were in the building. Shivering, Cathy realized there would be a million rumors circulating by the end of the day. Finally, outside of the building, the girls were exposed to the fresh air. Cathy hadn’t known how constricted her lungs were until she was out of that building.

Unlocking the door to her car, Maggie ushered Anne and Cathy inside. “Alright girls, it’s only a short ride down to the precinct, but I know how scary it can be. If you need to talk to me or each other about something, don’t hesitate just because you’re in a cop’s car. And there’s candy under the middle seat if you want it.”

Without a second of hesitation, Anne reached under the seat and gasped when there was in fact a bag of candy hidden there. Cathy laughed at her girlfriend’s shock. “You hide candy in your car? Is this what Detective Blount was talking about with violating etiquette?” Cathy asked the officer.

“Hey,” Maggie chuckled, “you bust enough criminals for hiding drugs, you learn a thing or two.”

Stopping with a tootsie roll already halfway down her throat, Anne’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you saying these are drugs -”

“No!” Maggie laughed, “No, they aren’t drugs. I got them from Walmart. Geez, kids are so much more uptight than I remember,” she playfully joked. Turning on the engine, Maggie pulled her seatbelt on. “Make sure you’re wearing your seatbelts, I’d hate to have to arrest you for something like that.”

As serious as a situation they were in, Maggie was doing a great job of dispelling the tension of it. It made Cathy wish all police officers tried to be more friendly than aggressive. If she was in a murder investigation, she would tell Maggie far more than those men she always saw on the news. “Officer Lee,” Cathy started.

“Please, call me Maggie, formalities are stupid.”

More and more, Cathy was starting to see what Bessie referred to as ‘ _violating task force etiquette’_. “Okay, um, Maggie. What’s going to happen to us?”

Watching the two teens through her mirror, Maggie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“We mean,” Anne picked up the conversation, “When we get to the station, are they going to question us? Is Culpeper going to be arrested? Is Kit going to be okay?”

Clicking her hand on the wheel as they waited at a red light, Maggie sighed. “Look kid, those are a lot of questions and I can’t give you all the answers. You and your friends are all going to be questioned so we can get a story. If there’s a case -”

“ _If_ ,” Anne yelped incredulously, “If there’s a case? Of course there’s a case! My cousin was almost raped and you’re questioning whether that’s a case or not?”

Cathy knew Anne was prone to outbursts, especially when it came to people she cared about. Maggie seemed to anticipate this too, so she made sure to keep herself calm. “I don’t doubt you, but this case’ll probably go to court. If you don’t have a story, there won’t be a case and your cousin’s assaulter won’t be brought to justice. I’m going to try and help you as best as possible, but you’ve got to cooperate.”

“You said,” Cathy broke in, “that this will probably go to court. Are we going to be witnesses?”

Maggie made a turn before answering. “Yeah, all three of us will probably be witnesses, but you two and Boleyn’s cousin will be the most important. You two witnessed the crime and your cousin’s the victim.”

“Don’t call her a victim,” Anne mumbled, crossing her arms. Cathy reached out and put a hand on her girlfriend’s knee, a source of comfort in the small police car.

It was obvious Maggie was trying to keep a positive atmosphere, but it was difficult with the reality of everything. Instead, the three girls fell into silence and waited for the ride to be over. It wasn’t much longer before they actually arrived at the precinct and were brought inside.

Bypassing all the front desk sign ins, Maggie led the girls into a conference room. “We’ll question you two later, but right now we’re just going to get all the witnesses together before we start. It’s important to have all the pieces so we can build you a strong case,” Maggie noted. She left the room, leaving Anne and Cathy alone.

Letting out a loud breath, Anne sunk to the floor. “Cathy,” she groaned. “Why did this have to happen?”

Kneeling down next to her girlfriend, Cathy tried to pull Anne into a hug. “We’ll get through this -”

“I know we will!” Anne shouted, pounding her fists against the floor in frustration. “We’ll get through this just fine, but Kitty’s gonna have to carry this with her for the rest of her life. If maybe we’d been a little quicker, I could’ve stopped him from getting to her.”

“No,” Cathy stated forcefully. “Don’t you dare go down that path of thinking Anne Boleyn. You did your best. You stopped him before things could get worse and you stayed by Kit’s side.”

“My best isn’t enough,” Anne spat at the ground. 

Wrapping her arms around Anne, Cathy held her in a tight hug. If she could convey all her pride in her girlfriend, all her love in a single show of affection, she would do it at that moment. “Anne, you’re doing everything you can do, that’s what matters. It’s one of the reasons why I love you.”

An unintentional blush made its way to Anne’s cheeks, just as Cathy knew it would. “Thanks Cathy, you know I love you more than my heelys.”

“Isn’t it ‘you know I love you more than the world itself’?” Cathy raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but I already love my heelys more than the world. I’m putting you above my heelys Cathy, my _heelys_ , you should be kissing me senseless for that,” Anne scoffed.

Shrugging, Cathy replied cheekily, “If you say so,” and brought Anne in for a kiss. It was a sweet moment of stability and happiness, something they always found in the other. Pulling away, the two girls kept their gazes locked, the love in their eyes palpable in the air.

They were interrupted by the door opening, surprising the two girls on the floor. Standing in the doorway was Catherine and Jane, both of them nervous and awkward. “The officers told us to wait here,” Catherine offered when she noticed Cathy and Anne. The girlfriends stood up and made their way over to the conference table, sitting down on one end. Catherine purposefully sat down on the other end while Jane sat in the middle.

Anne and Cathy didn’t resume their conversation, too worried at being overheard by their new companions. Catherine kept shooting Anne mild glares while Jane tapped her foot lightly. “So…” Jane tried, hoping a conversation would pick up. Nobody even looked in her direction, so she dropped it and continued with her tapping.

Later, the door opened again, this time entering Kitty and Anna, followed by Detective Blount. “Go take a seat girls,” Bessie urged. Kit sat next to Anne, immediately grabbing her hand. Anna followed behind her, sitting on Kit’s other side in case the girl needed her. Observing the full table, Bessie instructed, “While Maggie and I prepare the case files, feel free to talk and mingle. You aren’t being recorded, so don’t worry about any of that. I’ll be back soon.” And then she closed the door, sealing the six girls inside together.

At first, no one talked. None of them wanted to, especially with the tense air surrounding them. They weren’t here for a birthday party, and they didn’t try to act like it. Again, it was Jane who tried to break the silence. “So… we’re all here -”

“Yeah, why are you here?” Anne asked with a hint of aggressiveness in her tone. Cathy couldn’t tell if it was left over from her outburst earlier or if it was specifically intended for Jane.

It was Aragon who answered for Jane. “We were the ones who called the police, _and_ we’re associated with Culpeper. We’re a part of this case too, Boleyn.”

Anne sent a sneer in Catherine’s direction, but Cathy’s warm hand on her shoulder calmed her down. “It’s my fault you’re here, I’m sorry,” Kitty muttered, her voice only heard because of the silence of the rest of the room. 

“Don’t apologize, dear,” Jane spoke before anyone else. “This is not at all your fault. We’re here to stop a sexual predator,” Kit winced, “and do the right thing. How could this possibly be your fault if you haven’t done anything wrong?”

Kitty seemed at a loss for words, but everyone else was too afraid to speak up. “I followed him into the room. I let him touch me.”

“You told him to stop,” Anne cut in.

“We heard it,” Cathy added, reaching across Anne to add her hand to the cousins’ intertwined ones.

Shrugging, Kit didn’t seem particularly convinced. “I could have tried harder. He just,” she started to shiver. Anna put her arms around Kit and let the girl rest against her. “He just started touching and I didn’t know what to do. He had been so nice during the other rounds, giving me presents when I won. I thought he was being nice because he thought I was talented. But he locked that door and,” her breath hitched in her throat, “he started _tearing_ and ripping at my clothes, and I didn’t want him _on me_ like that.” Her voice was shaking, the syllables broken and pitiful.

It was breaking Cathy’s heart to see Kit so torn up about Culpeper. In only a few moments he had torn her apart, leaving her scared and shameful of something that wasn’t her fault. Cathy could tell by the way Anne tensed up that her girlfriend was concealing fiery anger towards Culpeper. “He’ll be brought to justice, I promise,” Aragon gritted through her teeth. “My parents have a team of expert lawyers, he doesn’t stand a chance.”

“You have lawyers?” Anna gasped, “Girl I don’t even have lunch money.” Kitty let out a small laugh, knowing full well that Anna had plenty of lunch money - so much so that she saved it up and bought a sports car just so she could take up two spaces while parking to annoy some of the high school students who made fun of Kitty. (In reality, Anna much preferred her truck that she had made so many memories in). 

Cathy noticed the way Kit perked up at Anna’s joke, so she nudged Anne, gaining her attention. “You think lunch money’s bad? Anne saved up three years worth of birthday money just to buy heelys!”

Again, Kitty was giggling at the absurdness of their claims. Jane and Aragon were catching onto the game, so they started to play along. “You get birthday money?” Jane asked. “I’m the Cinderella of my house. I do chores all day and I don’t even earn minimum wage!”

None of the jokes were particularly funny, but it felt good to be able to laugh when there was so much tension around them. Being dumb teenagers did in fact (despite what adults might say) have its benefits. “Chores are the worst,” Anne grumbled, playing up her annoyance. “They go ‘clean this, clean that’ but never do they say ‘this needs to be dirty’. Why can’t we have dirty things!?”

“Because that’s unsanitary babe,” Cathy explained, a twinkle in her eyes.

Scrunching her nose, Kitty gave Anne a disgusted look. “Yeah, remember when you tried to take us out for a picnic, but you thought washing the plates in lake water would clean them?”

“I’m sorry, she did what?” Aragon asked, her mouth agape.

“Mhmm,” Anna confirmed, “nearly got us all sick with whatever was in the water too.”

“I’d give her a 3/10 on Yelp reviews,” Cathy added.

Gasping in mock hurt, Anne turned to her girlfriend. “ _Only_ a 3 out of 10? Cathy, you wound me. I thought I was better than that.”

“Please, we all know Kit’s the ten amongst us threes,” Anna continued to tease Anne.

“There’s a reason she was going to win the pageant,” Jane confirmed from her spot at the table.

Everyone turned to look at her. “She was going to win?” Anne asked.

Smiling nervously and looking at Catherine, Jane nodded. “She’s an audience favorite, no one else got as many cheers as Katherine Howard. Besides, the counting was already done as soon as the last vote was in.” Cathy could tell Anne was internally cursing that her cheating plan wouldn’t have worked, but she was still glad Kitty had won.

“You hear that Kit, you’re a winner,” Anna told her.

Even as she tried to hide it, a smile grew on Kit’s face. “At least that’s one good thing.”


	3. Round Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Heavy talk about rape and sexual assault, victim blaming, slut shaming

It was trial day. The courtroom was a lot smaller than Law and Order had led Cathy to believe, and it wasn’t doing well to soothe anyone’s nerves. Kit was sitting with her back straight at one of the desks in front of the judge and the jury, attempting to keep any emotion off her face. Beside Kit were Aragon’s lawyers, Maria and Joan, two highly educated women in pristine suits. While their presence didn’t do anything to quell Kit’s nerves, they weren’t doing anything to agitate her, which was honestly all she could ask for.

Sitting off to the side were Cathy and Anne, waiting for court to officially start. They were supposed to be witnesses for the case, along with Jane, Anna, and Aragon who were sitting with them. Maggie and Bessie were in the back of the room, watching and waiting. At the other table sat Thomas Culpeper in a dapper suit, his hair gelled back and his eyes stony. He had some dime a dozen lawyer next to him, ready to argue every possible point he could get his hands on. Off on the other side of the room was Francis Dereham, the main witness for Culpeper’s defense. 

The judge sat up on a podium with a fancy chair, the bags under his eyes visible to everyone in the courtroom. “I am Judge Cranmer. Today we are here to see the case of Culpeper vs Howard. We shall start with the accused.”

Culpeper’s lawyer stood up and made his way to the center of the courtroom floor. “Thank you Judge Cranmer. Now, as you all know, my client has been accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape Miss Howard,” he explained, “But these charges are all false! Miss Howard,” he pointed his hand at Kit, “is lying about what happened. She was the one to come onto Mr. Culpeper. He was not at fault and is being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit.”

“Objection your honor!” Maria stood up, her face growing red.

“Overruled,” Cranmer shushed Maria. He seemed very interested in what Culpeper’s lawyer had to say.

Silently thanking the judge, Culpeper’s lawyer continued. Cathy had to hold back the sick feeling in her stomach as he started preaching falsities to the judge and jury. “Miss Howard is playing innocent, when really she is a vixen. In fact, we can prove it. Mr. Dereham!” he spun around, pointing at the man in question. “I’m calling you to the stand.”

Disguising a smirk on his face, Dereham made his way to the witness stand, winking at Cathy and the others as he passed. Jane gasped in disgust, turning her head away from him. Once Dereham was up and situated on the stand, they got straight into questioning. “Mr. Dereham, you told me that you have had sexual relations with Miss Howard before.”

“Indeed I have,” he answered.

This time it was Joan who stood up. “Objection your honor!”

“Overruled,” Cranmer dismissed her. Watching the absolute horror that descended onto Anne’s face hurt Cathy more than she would’ve thought. Her girlfriend looked devastated at Kit’s reaction to Dereham, and it only further proved that things were far worse than they initially thought. 

Pacing back and forth, the lawyer started asking questions. “How do you and Miss Howard know each other?”

The charismatic smile on Dereham’s face was disgusting and unnatural with the way it never changed. “Last year I was the judge at one of Katherine’s beauty pageants. To make sure she won, Katherine came to me as the results were being deliberated. She forced herself onto me, hoping she could bribe me with sexual acts. She had her way with me, and said that if I didn’t make sure she won, she would accuse me of raping her.”

If any of the jury had an ounce of common sense, they would see the tears in Kit’s eyes and know immediately Dereham was lying. That’s what Cathy hoped, at least. Kit seemed so terrified for the usually confident beauty queen. Or maybe she was never confident and had just learned to hide it really well. 

The questioning dragged on as tensions rose. Cathy could feel the anger and fear radiating throughout the room from every person. Finally, Culpeper’s lawyer was done and it was Kit’s turn. Maria and Joan stood up together and nodded before addressing Cranmer. “Your honor, we would like to call up the _victim_ ,” Maria stressed the word, “Katherine Howard, to the stand.” Cranmer agreed and Kit was led up to the box for questioning.

Both the lawyers gave Kit kind smiles to ease her anxiety. The three of them knew this was going to get messy. “Seeing as we were unprepared for Mr. Dereham’s accusations, would you like to tell us your version of the events Miss Howard?”

Swallowing and giving the tiniest nod, Kit began to speak. “I was at the beauty pageant my father had signed me up for,” she started, her eyes darting out in the benches before landing on her father. “Mr. Dereham was one of the judges, but I _never_ tried to seduce him,” Kit hardened her face. “My father encouraged that I talk to him, so I did. It was Mr. Dereham who started to put his hands on me. At first I didn’t say anything, because I thought he was admiring my costume. He was charming, and I thought it was alright,” Kit admitted, glancing down at her hands. “But then he started to touch me more in places I didn’t like, and I didn’t know what to do so I stopped and,” her breath hitched as she froze. “I let it happen,” Kit choked out.

All the rage Cathy never thought she had was coming out. She wanted to get up and punch Dereham in the face, she wanted to wring Culpeper by his neck until his face turned blue. Instead of doing any of that, Cathy put a hand on Anne’s knee in order to keep her calm. Glancing to the side, Cathy and Aragon made eye contact. _This is wrong_ , Aragon mouthed to her, abhorrence written across her face. 

_I know_ , Cathy mouthed back before turning her attention back to the stand. She could only imagine the fury Anna must have been feeling as she watched her best friend admit to being sexually abused. “And with Mr. Culpeper?” Joan asked, her fingers drumming on the side of her blazer.

“This time I did say no,” Kit mumbled into the microphone. “He asked me to come see him in the judging room because something was off with the votes. I thought maybe they had spelled my name wrong, that happens a lot, so I followed him. But he locked the door and started undressing and I panicked.” Taking a moment to breath, Kit stilled her face. “I told him to stop,” her voice was a thick monotone, “And he didn’t. He ripped my clothing open and almost had his way with me before my cousin Anne Boleyn and her girlfriend, Catherine Parr came into the room and saw what was happening. Parr went and got my friend Anna while two of the student judges, Catherine de Aragon and Jane Seymour called the police.”

Anne was in awe of her cousin’s ability to tell the story. Cathy knew Anne didn’t think of her cousin as weak, but Kit was known for having anxiety problems that made her freeze up or spiral. Anna was smiling proudly off to the side, her heart swelling at the sight of Kitty. “Thank you Miss Howard,” Joan helped her out of the box and led her back to the defense’s table. 

Maria addressed Cranmer, “Now we would like to call up the other witnesses. Anne Boleyn, please come before the court.” 

That was how the trial progressed, with every witness being called up to provide a first account of the events they were a part of. When Cathy stepped into the box, she couldn’t help but feel the anxiety of all her friends fall onto her shoulders. It was terrifying, having everyone’s attention on her, knowing that her account of the events could make or break the case.

After what felt like hours, Judge Cranmer called a recess. Anne went to talk to Aragon, Jane and Anna approached Cathy, and Kit left the room to use the bathroom. “She’s handling this well,” Anna commented, nervously casting a glance towards the hallway where Kit had disappeared down. “Especially being around _them_ ,” she refused to say the men’s names. 

Jane rubbed her wrist as if it was in pain. “I didn’t think I’d be able to handle sitting in that box, and I didn’t have much to share. I can’t imagine what it’s like for her.”

Cathy didn’t respond, her eyes watching Anne and Aragon in the corner. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but both of them looked frustrated. Aragon was holding her composure, but Anne seemed to be venting all her rage at the other girl. Before Cathy could make her way over and break up the argument, Aragon said something that made Anne stop cold. For a moment, Cathy was afraid Aragon had said something inappropriate that would cause Anne to snap, but then Anne threw her arms around Aragon in a hug. It was awkward, and neither girl seemed to particularly like it, but it was a gesture of goodwill they both needed.

A feeling of pride welled up in Cathy’s chest at her girlfriend. She and Aragon had been at odds since the day of the incident, and even the smallest step toward forgiving each other for whatever happened in their past was a good thing. “I’m going to the bathroom,” Cathy told Anna and Jane without taking her gaze off of Aragon and Anne. “I think this might be my only opportunity to slip away from Anne before -”

“Before she becomes clingy girlfriend bot 2000, I know what she’s like,” Anna shoved Cathy’s shoulder lightly. “Go on, we’ll cover for you.”

Quietly thanking Anna, Cathy bolting out of the courtroom and into the hall. If Aragon was distracting Anne, it gave Cathy the perfect opportunity to sneak out and empty her bladder. The bathrooms were down the hall and around the corner, pretty secluded from the rest of the court. Making her way to the bathroom, Cathy was about to turn the corner when she heard voices. Stopping, she leaned against the wall and peered around the corner.

Edmund Howard was leering over his daughter, his face red with anger as he scolded her. “How dare, _how dare you_!”

“I’m sorry,” Kit whispered, her eyes trained on the floor.

“Don’t apologize you stupid slut!” Cathy wanted to barge in, but she knew that wouldn’t do any good. Edmund would pretend like nothing had happened and Cathy wouldn’t have any way to help Kit. So Cathy pulled out her phone and started recording the scene. “You say this was my fault, and then accuse two perfectly dignified men of _your_ crime? You’re a disgrace Katherine.”

Still unable to look in her father’s eyes, Kit mumbled, “It’s not my crime, it’s their fault. I didn’t consent. That’s _illegal_.”

“Thomas and Francis were doing as I told them,” Edmund growled, bending down so Kit had to look in his eyes. “The only way you would ever win is if I do all the hard work for you.” Cathy had to restrain herself from attacking the man then and there. He was admitting to a crime, and her video could be the one thing that helped Kit put Dereham and Culpeper in prison. 

The look of pure betrayal behind Kit’s eyes made Cathy want to scream. “You what?” she asked, the syllables broken apart.

Edmund spit like fire, uncaring about how he hurt his daughter. “We needed that prize money, and the only way you were going to win it was if the judges had a reason to pick you. It’s surprisingly easy to whore you out to these men.”

“It’s my body!” Kit exploded, stepping away from her father. “You can’t sell me to them for money.”

“I can, I will, and you won’t say anything about it,” Edmund towered over his daughter. And with that, he spun around and stalked back to the courtroom. Panicking, Cathy nearly dropped her phone as she hurled herself into a nearby storage closet. When the shadow of Edmund had passed, Cathy released the breath she had been holding. She had video evidence of Edmund admitting what he had done. If this didn’t help Kit win, she didn’t know what would.

The small shuffling of feet outside the door signaled that Kit was passing by. Once the girl was gone, Cathy moved to open the door. She tried turning the knob in different directions, but it wouldn’t budge. Starting to freak out, Cathy pulled on the door harder and harder. It didn’t budge. Cathy was trapped.

“Anne’s hairpin,” Cathy murmured, praying that she had her girlfriend’s hairpin from earlier that day. She had picked it up off the ground when it fell out of Anne’s hair, and Cathy prayed it hadn’t fallen from her pocket or gotten lost. Shoving her hands in her pockets, Cathy rifled through lint and lost belongings in search of the pin. 

Luck was on her side, and she pulled out the pin. Straightening it out, Cathy got to work picking the lock. This was the second time her lockpicking skills had come in handy recently, and it gave her a strange sense of deja vu to be back in this position. Except this time she was trying to get out instead of in. 

Nearly falling into the hallway as the door swung open, Cathy gasped. She had done it, and now she could present her evidence to the court. Sprinting back up the hallway, Cathy saw the closed doors and realized that court was back in session. Ignoring proper etiquette, Cathy burst through the doors with her phone held up for everyone to see.

“Katherine Howard did nothing wrong. And I can prove it.”


	4. Results Pending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Talk of sexual abuse, references to panic attacks, attempted assault

“Miss Parr, please sit down,” Judge Cranmer shot her a glare, “We cannot introduce any more evidence into this case unless it has been processed by both parties. You should have brought your evidence to court before we began the trial.”

Stalking forward to the middle of the court, Cathy slammed her phone down in front of Maria and Joan. “That would’ve been impossible your Honor, because this evidence - this conversation happened not even five minutes ago. And I would say it’s a confession, if anything.”

Suddenly, the entire court was interested in what Cathy had to say. “A confession? From who?” Maria asked, picking up the phone.

“From Edmund Howard,” Cathy pointed a finger at the man, waiting for the dramatic gasps of the jury. Instead, she was met with an awkward silence as everyone waited for more information. Slowly dropping her hand with a sheepish shrug, Cathy returned her attention to Cranmer. “If you let us present this to the court, we can get the truth.”

Joan stood up. “We vouch for her,” she shot Cathy an indistinguishable glance out of the corner of her eye. “Whatever the contents of this so-called confession, we will take responsibility for it.”

Rubbing his eyes, Cranmer sighed. “I’m not supposed to be doing this, but fine. Present your evidence to the court.”

“Your Honor, they can’t do that -” Culpeper’s lawyer argued, practically rocketing out of his chair. 

Silencing the lawyer with the wave of his hand, Cranmer commanded the court with his voice, “I am allowing it, and you will allow it too, unless there’s something you wish to hide?”

Swallowing thickly, the lawyer shook his head, “No, your Honor,” and sat back down. Culpeper’s eyes hadn’t left Kit, who was curled up in her seat next to Maria and Joan. Cathy noticed the way her eyes roamed over the cracks in the wood table, pretending as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. 

Tension spread throughout the entire court as Cathy opened her phone, pulling up the video of Edmund and Kit’s argument. When she got a nod of confirmation from Joan and Maria, she hit play.

_“Thomas and Francis were doing as I told them. The only way you would ever win is if I do all the hard work for you.”_

_“You what?”_

_“We needed that prize money, and the only way you were going to win it was if the judges had a reason to pick you. It’s surprisingly easy to whore you out to these men.”_

_“It’s my body! You can’t sell me to them for money.”_

_“I can, I will, and you won’t say anything about it.”_

There was silence throughout the court as everyone stared, their eyes divided between Cathy, Kit, and Edmund himself. Everyone was frozen, unsure of what to do. Breaking the moment of suspension, Kit scrambled out of her seat and sprinted out of the room, escaping from the court. Cathy could’ve sworn there were tears in the girl’s eyes, but Kit was gone too quickly to be sure. Without waiting another moment, Anna was out of her seat as well, chasing after Kit while calling her name.

With that, the room fell into chaos. Cranmer tried to scream order, but everyone was freaking out. Aragon and Jane were standing up, looking around for any way to help. Anne was making her way over to Cathy, pushing through jurors who were all demanding to speak to the judge or Culpeper’s lawyer. Culpeper and Dereham were hovering over Culpeper’s lawyer, yelling at him unintelligibly over the sounds of the room. Maria and Joan were trying to get Cranmer’s attention as they held Cathy’s phone between them. “You bitch!” sounded over the waves of voices in the room.

Spinning around, Cathy backed up in fear as Edmund started approaching her. “You’re going to regret this,” he hissed, beelining towards Cathy. Edmund raised his fist, ready to strike Cathy as she looked for any escape from the raging man. The courtroom was crowded and already in chaos, she had nowhere to go.

“Get the fuck away from her,” Anne threatened, stepping in front of Cathy, her eyebrows set in a hard line. “One step closer and I’ll beat you to death you bastard. Do you know what you’ve done to my cousin? Do you know?!”

Edmund didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Anne’s threats. Without a second thought, he hurled a fist at Anne, hoping to smack her right in the cheek. Before his fist could connect, he was yanked back by two sets of hands. Cathy sighed in relief as Maggie and Bessie hauled Edmund away from the two teens. “Let go of me!” Edmund demanded, thrashing in their grips.

As Maggie handcuffed him, Bessie explained, “You’re under arrest Mr. Howard, and you’ve only made it worse by attempting to assault a minor, not to mention the abuse you’ve inflicted upon your own daughter. I suggest letting us handle this unless you want things to get much worse for you.”

Reluctantly, Edmund stopped struggling and let the cops drag him away, but not before shooting one last glare at Cathy and Anne. “Are you okay?” Anne spun around, pulling Cathy into a hug. “What you did was stupid, you could’ve gotten hurt.”

“Yeah, but it’s going to help Kit. She deserves to be heard, you know that better than anyone Anne,” Cathy mumbled into Anne’s shoulder.

Leaning away from the hug, Anne sighed, her eyes drooping. “I know. Kit deserves the world, and everything keeps getting _taken_ away from her. Believe me, I’m so happy that you can prove those bastards are at fault but… I just don’t want you getting hurt in the process.”

“Well I’m not hurt now, am I?” Cathy quirked an eyebrow, a soft smile splayed across her lips.

Rolling her eyes, Anne gave Cathy a short kiss on the cheek. “Don’t get cheeky with me, Miss Parr.”

Not needing to respond, Cathy simply sunk back into Anne’s arms, relaxing in another hug. A cough brought them back into reality. Turning their attention to Joan, the person who had coughed, Anne slipped her hand into Cathy’s, squeezing it tightly. “What you did was incredibly irresponsible,” Joan started, although her tone wasn’t too serious. Maria was standing off to the side, conversing with Aragon while Jane kept walking towards the door before stopping indecisively. “But I’m glad you did it anyway. None of us wanted to see Katherine suffer, and you may just be the one who’s ended this,” Joan explained.

Cathy tried to focus on her hand in Anne’s. “It’s not a big deal. Anyone would have done it.”

“But _you_ did it,” Maria joined the conversation, her eyes drifting away from Aragon. Jane was still pacing, but Aragon followed Maria into the conversation. She and Anne shared a knowing look, but they said nothing. “I wouldn’t recommend doing something like that again Miss Parr, but thank you.”

Noticing Jane’s pacing, Cathy quickly replied, “You’re welcome,” and broke away from the group. She moved over to Jane and stopped in front of her, forcing the other girl to stop moving around. “Is everything alright Jane?”

“I’m worried about Kit - Katherine,” she admitted.

“You can call her Kit you know,” Cathy offered lightly. “You won’t get yelled at for calling her by a nickname.”

Chuckling nervously, Jane nodded. “Right, well Kit disappeared with Anna and neither of them have come back. I know I’m not particularly close to either of them but I need to know that they’re okay.”

“You aren’t restricted from caring about them,” Cathy was confused by Jane’s perspective. Why did Jane feel like she couldn’t care about Kit and Anna? “Jane, you know you’re allowed to care about people you don’t know, right?”

“Right,” Jane mirrored Cathy, putting on an uncomfortable grin.

Pushing her confusion away, Cathy told herself it wasn’t her place to delve into any of Jane’s inner turmoil. If Jane was going to talk about something, she was going to talk about. If she never did, Cathy didn’t need to know. “Why don’t you come with me to go find them?”

Eyes lighting up, Jane nodded. “Can I?”

“Sure. Let’s get Aragon and Anne to come too,” Cathy tilted her head towards where the two girls were talking with Maria and Joan.

When Anne saw Cathy coming back to her, she opened her arms as an invitation for her girlfriend. “Jane and I are going to go find Kit and Anna, would you want to come with us?” Cathy asked, resting her head on Anne’s shoulder.

“Yeah, we need to find Kit. She has Anna, which is good, but I want to be there for her,” Anne replied, running her hand through Cathy’s hair. The writer wasn’t afraid to admit that she loved when Anne played with her hair, and it never failed to calm down her anxieties. 

“Can I come as well?” Aragon asked, watching Cathy and Anne.

When Anne agreed, Maria and Joan took that as their cue to leave. They dismissed the four girls and went to go talk to Judge Cranmer who was already preparing a sentence for Culpeper, Dereham, and Edmund. The four girls made their way out of the courtroom, looking around for any trace of Kit or Anna.

Anne pulled out her phone and dialed Anna’s number, hoping she would pick up. After a couple of rings, the other line picked up with, “Anne? Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine Anna, but we’re trying to find you and Kitty.”

There was an inhale of realization from across the line. “Oh, we’re behind the building. Kit was having a panic attack earlier.”

“But she’s fine now, right!” Anne gasped, starting to jog towards the back doors. Cathy, Jane, and Aragon followed closely behind, listening as best they could to the conversation.

The quartet could practically hear Anna’s shrug over the line. “As fine as she can be. Kit’s not having a panic attack anymore, and that’s what’s most important.”

Anne hung up the phone as she burst out of the doors, spotting Anna and Kitty a few metres away. The four girls jogged over to them, Anne crouching down beside her cousin. Cathy stayed standing with Aragon and Jane, making sure they wouldn’t crowd Kit. “Hey KitKat, how are you doing?” Anne asked as a starting point.

Kit was hugging Anna, her breathing abnormal, but not enough to be a cause for concern. “I’m fine Anne,” she promised, pushing away the worry. “But hearing that conversation… it was a lot.”

Cathy cringed. “I’m sorry Kit, but I had to. Otherwise -”

“Otherwise they would’ve won and no one would ever know that I’m not a whore.”

Aragon frowned from beside Cathy. “You don’t have to say it like that.”

“Being blunt sometimes helps,” Anna explained, rubbing Kit’s knuckles with her thumb. It was a soothing gesture Cathy had seen her use for as long as they had known each other.

Kit nodded at Anna’s explanation. “She’s right. The sooner I face the reality of it, the sooner I can get up and move on.”

“That’s a nice way of thinking,” Jane spoke up, her voice hollow.

For some reason, Kit must have sensed the same thing Cathy had in Jane. “Thank you for coming out here Jane.”

Jane averted her eyes, staring at the ground. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m not okay,” Kit admitted. “But I will be. One day.”

For the first time in a long time, Kit’s smile was completely genuine.


	5. And The Winner Is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it! Here's the epilogue, thank you for everyone who stuck around to get this far!  
> Trigger Warnings: (brief) victim blaming

Scrolling through news articles, Cathy’s head was resting against Anne’s chest as the girlfriends cuddled. “Found another one,” Cathy sighed, showing Anne her phone. The two of them had been finding loads of news articles covering the story on Kit’s trial, the majority of them riddled with falsities and crazy exaggerations. A number of them painted Kit as the villain for assaulting Culpeper and Dereham and then getting her father sent to jail.

Anne huffed in annoyance as she read the article title. “Drama Queen Wants More Attention, Goes to Court and Tricks Jury. What the hell are these reporters thinking?”

Shrugging, Cathy closed out of the article. “I have no idea. But at least we know the truth, and justice is being served.”

Humming in agreement, Anne pulled Cathy closer to her chest. They were together on Anne’s couch waiting for the others to show up for a movie night. After all was said and done, the six girls agreed to come together and hang out without all the drama around them. Kit was out with Anna, but she had moved in with Anne and her family after her father was sentenced to prison. They were supposed to be home any minute, probably with unhealthy snacks in preparation of movie night.

The two girlfriends sat together in silence, needing the moment of quiet. There was almost always noise when Anne was around, but after the chaos that had followed that beauty competition and the trial, silence was much more romantic than any words they could say. Cathy and Anne sat together, enjoying the familiar presence of each other.

Their moment of silence was broken by the door opening, revealing Kit and Anna on the other side. “We’re back,” Kit called, a small bag of groceries in one hand. Her other hand was interlocked with Anna’s as they walked closely together. Cathy noticed their closeness and smiled knowingly at Anna. The other girl hid a blush and instead focused her attention on the bag she was also carrying.

Stretching out from behind Cathy, Anne leaned over the couch. “Did you get anything good?”

“You bet,” Anna replied, releasing Kit’s hand and taking the bag in the girl’s other hand. She placed the two bags on the coffee table in front of Anne and Cathy before plopping onto the loveseat beside the couch. Practically jumping into her lap, Kit climbed onto the loveseat as well and got herself comfortable.

Cathy watched her girlfriend rip through the bags in search of different junk foods. “If only you focused as much in school as you do searching for processed foods.”

“Aha!” Anne cried, pulling out a box of guylian chocolates. She went to open the package, but Cathy slapped her wrist. “Wha?” Anne asked in confusion.

Rolling her eyes, Cathy grabbed the chocolates and put them down on the tables. “At least wait for Catherine and Jane to show up, Anne.”

“Yeah Anne, have some decency,” Anna tried to hide her laugh as she teased her friend.

Pouting dramatically, Anne turned her head away from her girlfriend. “You’re mean to me.”

Chuckling, Cathy leaned into Anne. “Aw, come on, you know you love me.”

Unable to resist, Anne spun back around. “Yeah, I do.” 

She kissed Cathy, only to be cut off by Kit screaming, “Ew, PDA!” and throwing a pencil at them. 

Breaking apart, the girlfriends laughed at Kit’s disgusted face. Picking up the pencil, Anne threw it back at her cousin, watching the girl duck so that it went flying over her and almost hitting Anne before smacking the wall uselessly. “Hey, don’t drag me into this,” Anne pretended to complain.

“Drag you into this?” Anne pretended to be offended. “You started this!”

“How?”

“Well for starters -”

Before the friendly argument could escalate, there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” Cathy offered, standing up and making her way over to the door. She already knew who it was before Catherine and Jane waved through the peephole. Cathy opened the door and greeted, “Hey girls, welcome to Anne’s house.”

The three of them made their way over to the couch, Catherine and Jane scoping out the room as they walked. “Nice house,” Aragon commented as she sat on the opposite side of the couch as Anne. 

Grinning, Anne shrugged. “Well it’s my parents, so I’ll tell them you think they have good taste.” 

Aragon shook her head as a smile graced her lips. “Whatever Boleyn.”

Making her way over directly to Kit and Anna, Jane held something behind her back. “Hi Jane,” Kit gave a small wave.

There was a big smile on Jane’s face that she was trying to hide as she stared at Kit. “Hi Kit.” The nickname rolled much more naturally off Jane’s tongue, and Cathy couldn’t help the swell of pride in her chest.

“Is there something you want to say?” Kit asked, noticing her friend’s excitement.

Presenting what was behind her back, Jane’s eyes brightened. “It’s the pageant sash. The one you would’ve gotten when they announced you as the winner.”

The five girls watched her in varying degrees of excitement. Jane was overwhelmingly excited to present the sash and Anna seemed monumentally proud of the girl next to her. Aragon was satisfied, waiting for Kit to put on the sash and take the winning spot she rightfully deserved. Anne and Cathy were relieved that despite everything, despite Anne’s desire to rig the competition so Kit would win, she had done it all on her own.

Kit’s face dropped, morphing into one of confusion. She carefully grabbed the sash from Jane’s hands, inspecting it. The ribbon wasn’t particularly fancy, but the deep purple and stitching proclaiming “winner” made it seem much more high quality. Kit’s hands moved to the top of the sash where the seams were, and she pulled, ripping the sash in half in one tear.

“Kit!” Cathy gasped, jumping out of her seat. “What are you doing?”

Anna scrambled to pick up the two halves of the sash, inspecting it to see if it was beyond repair. All the girls were shocked at Kit’s actions. Kit started to fidget with her hands, her eyes looking anywhere but the sash. “I don’t want it. I never wanted to be a winner.”

Frowning, Anne rocked in her seat. “What do you mean? That’s all you’ve ever wanted. You’ve been doing this for so long.”

Shrugging, Kit let her voice drop its usual perky tone. “I only did it because I was told to. I’ve never particularly liked beauty competitions. Or competitions in general.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to be a winner?” Jane asked in confusion, her hands unsure of what to do now that the sash was destroyed.

Glancing around the room, Kit furrowed her eyebrows. “Isn’t it obvious? Competitions are about comparing people, seeing who’s better. But it’s impossible to judge things that are different. We’re all too unique to say that one of us is better than the others. I’m done comparing things and trying to be the best. It never does any good.”

There was a silence in the room. “Kit’s right,” Aragon agreed. “These competitions are stupid, and winning is only a title. We already know Kit’s a winner in her own category. So are the rest of us.”

The rest of the girls murmured their agreement. Cathy didn’t know how to describe how immensely proud she was of all her friends in that single moment. Jane had been so nervous to interact with them at first, her voice stuttering and small, but now she was happily talking with Kit and Anna, comfortable with her new friends. 

Anna had always been afraid of her feelings for her best friend, but if their holding hands was anything to go by, Cathy knew Anna wasn’t going to let fear control her anymore. 

Catherine had been so angry with Anne for as long as Cathy could remember, but they had managed to put that aside and be calm enough to joke with each other as _friends_. 

Kit was so tiny and afraid when this all happened, anxious and unable to keep herself together, to even smile, yet she had overcome all of her fears and insecurities and become the one to understand that these beauty competitions _didn’t matter_. 

And Anne… Anne had grown from the girl who thought she couldn’t do anything to save her cousin to the girl who, no matter what, was going to do everything she could to protect those she loved. Anne had been willing to jump in front of Kit’s deranged father in order to protect Cathy, knowing full well that if a fight started, she would lose.

Breaking her conversation with Aragon, Anne pulled Cathy into her arms. “You’re so brave, you know,” Anne murmured squeezing her hand.

Frowning Cathy shook her head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Letting out a puff of air, Anne set her chin on Cathy’s shoulder. “Well then let me tell you. From the moment we started this all, you’ve been by my side. You’ve helped every single one of us in some way. Without you, I would’ve never talked to Catherine about our history. You’re the reason we’re friends now. You’ve encouraged Jane, you helped find Anna, you proved Kit innocent and told the world the truth. You’re a hero Cathy Parr. My hero.”

There were so many things Cathy wanted to respond with, but none of them came out. “I love you,” was all she could say to Anne, her heart beating fast.

“I could never not love you Cathy Parr.”

Once again, Kit broke the moment. “It’s movie night, come on, let’s set up the tv.”

Aragon picked up the remote on Anne’s coffee table and started flipping through movies. “Any of these look good to you?”

“That one!” Kit pointed out when it appeared on screen.

The girls all exchanged knowing grins as Catherine hit play on the movie. “Well then, _Miss Congeniality_ it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr, @musical-stan-first-human-later for my masterpost of fics!


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